Uttar Pradesh police files FIR against ex-Union minister following accusation of harassment by law student; complainant missing for three days

A student from LLM student of SS Law College from Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh has gone missing after accusing a former union minister of harassment

She had accused former union minister and BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand of harassment and 'destroying the lives of several girls' in her college

In a police complaint, the girl's father said that she was not missing but was allegedly kidnapped

The Uttar pradesh police filed an FIR against former Union minister and BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand after a student from LLM student of SS Law College from Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, who went missing three days ago, accused him of harassment and “destroying the lives of several girls” in her college, News18 reported.

Shahjahanpur Superintendent of Police (SP) S Chanappa said he has been booked under IPC sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) based on the father's complaint.

In a Facebook video clip that has now gone viral that she had uploaded through her own account, she appealed to the prime minister and chief minister Yogi Adityanath to help her. “A big leader of the saint society, who has destroyed the lives of several girls, has been threatening me with life. I have all the evidence against him. I request Modi ji and Yogi ji to please help me. He has even threatened to kill my family. Only I know what I have been going through. Modi ji please help me, he is a sanyasi and is threatening that the police, DM and everyone else is on his side and no one can harm him. I request you all for justice.” she is seen saying in the video.

“When any girl tries to take any action against him, he blatantly threatens them with murder, claiming he has links with all forces of law,” she added.

The girl's father reported to the police saying that she was not missing but was allegedly kidnapped. She has been missing since 24 August, reported CNN-News18, just after the video went viral. He has filed written complaint against Chinmayanand. He has also told the police that his daughter was not the only one who was harassed.

“The last time she came home was on Raksha Bandhan. I asked her why her phone remained switched off so frequently. She said, ‘if my phone goes off for a longer duration then understand that I am in trouble. My phone will go off only when it is not in my hands’. My girl was going through a lot of pain and trouble but didn’t divulge much. She told me she was being sent to Nainital by her college administration,” her mother said told CNN-News18.

The father of the girl has also alleged that he has been trying to reach her for many days but she is untraceable. “My daughter never told me anything personally. She looked worried when she was home on Raksha Bandhan. She has been missing for four days. I have given a written complaint against college director Swami Chinmayanand, but no action has been taken yet,” he said.

Chinmayanand's lawyer has rubbished the allegations, calling them an attempt to extort the former MP, who was once central minister for Internal Security.

Elaborating on the sequence of events, his lawyer told PTI, "On August 22, Swami Chinmayanand got a WhatsApp message on his phone from an unknown number. The message said that if you do not give Rs five crore by this evening, then I will make videos viral on news channels. And do not try to act smart, as I have nothing to lose, but your reputation will be lost. Hence, make arrangements to give five crore rupees."

Chinmayanand's spokesperson Om Singh, dismissed the charges made by the woman and her father, saying, "There is not an iota of truth in their claims."

Singh, when contacted, said that Chinmayanand sent the screenshot to him, and he then took it to SP Shahjahanpur.

"The police took cognisance of it, and started its job. I was of the view that media should be made aware of this issue, but the police told me not to do so, as the matter seemed to be big and there was a possibility of it being a racket. (The police said) if you go public with it, then the racketeers may become alert, and it will be rather difficult to arrest them," he said.
The lawyer also said that on the night of 24 August he went to Kotwali police station in Shahjahanpur to register an FIR.

"It was registered at around 2.25 am on 25 August. On August 24 itself, the video of the girl had gone viral. Initially, I thought a big racket was involved. But after seeing the girl and the video, I felt that the WhatsApp threat and the video could be related, as a direct threat was made (to us)," Singh claimed.

The FIR was lodged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act against the mobile number which had sent the WhatsApp message, he said.

"The rest of my doubts were cleared when I came to know that the girl's father said that he feared for her life after seeing the video. My only contention is that a girl who is using a mobile phone, moving in a car, making her own videos and uploading them on various social networking websites, how can she be kidnapped," Singh asked.

"Why can't she go to the SSP office or a nearby police station or even contact Dial-100 and lodge her complaint?", Singh asked.

"It is entirely a conspiracy to blackmail Swami ji and become a crorepati using shortcuts. When the idea did not work, then an effort was made to tarnish his image as vendetta. There is not an iota of truth in the claims and allegations made by the girl," he said.

Chinmayanand has been a three-time Lok Sabha MP and was a minister of state in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. In 2011, he was accused of rape by an inmate of his Mumukshu ashram.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Jitin Prasada tweeted in support of the woman, saying she had appealed to the chief minister for protection against harassment.

A young student from SS law college in Shahjahanpur appeals to CM Yogi for protection against harassment . Now she has gone missing. Is there no rule of law left in the state. https://t.co/fPis9EZNjt